The Ontario Science Centre celebrates ten years of youth innovation with the 2018 Weston Youth Innovation Award

TORONTO, Dec. 4, 2017 /CNW/ - Celebrating ten years of youth innovation, nominations are now open for the 2018 Weston Youth Innovation Award! Calling all Canadian innovators between the ages of 14 and 18, the Ontario Science Centre wants to recognize you for making the world a better place through science and technology. This annual award recognizes and supports young Canadians who apply science and technology creatively with the goal of making a positive difference locally or even globally.

"The Weston Youth Innovation Award provides a platform for talented young innovators to not just tell their stories but to showcase their work to the broader public and inspire others," said Catherine Paisley, Ontario Science Centre Vice-President, Science Education and Science Experience. "We believe science, technology and innovation will help us shape a better future. The Ontario Science Centre is proud to encourage and celebrate young Canadians who demonstrate these qualities."

Open to all Canadians aged 14 to 18, this year's recipient will receive a $2,000 prize, travel expenses to attend the award ceremony in Toronto and an Ontario Science Centre membership (that provides free admission to more than 300 science centres and museums worldwide). In addition, the recipient will be featured in a video animation by the Science Centre's award-winning graphics team that will be broadcast online and in the Weston Family Innovation Centre, a hub for current science in the Science Centre where nearly one million visitors are welcomed each year.

The 2017 Weston Youth Innovation Award winner Anmol Tukrel of Markham, Ontario created the iDentifi app that assists the visually impaired in identifying objects using a smartphone. The app makes use of the phone's camera and the app's artificial intelligence to provide audio identification of objects, brands, colour, facial expressions, handwriting and text. Click here for a demo: GetiDentifi.com/demo.

"It was very exciting to have iDentifi be recognized by the Ontario Science Centre," said Tukrel. "Building this app has been an extremely rewarding experience, and the Weston Youth Innovation Award has enabled me to further develop iDentifi for the visually impaired community."

Do you know an innovative youth who might qualify for the Weston Youth Innovation Award?
Please contact [email protected]. Youth are invited to put their names forward, and teachers and community leaders are asked to encourage potential candidates to apply. Completed application packages must be received by March 16, 2018. An external jury will make a selection in May 2018 and the winner will be announced on the website in June 2018. Detailed information about the Weston Youth Innovation Award and past winners can be found at www.OntarioScienceCentre.ca/innovationaward.

The Weston Youth Innovation Award was established in 2008 to encourage and recognize young Canadian innovators and was named in recognition of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation's $15 million lead gift to the Ontario Science Centre's Agents of Change initiative. This national award builds on the Foundation's longstanding tradition of support to educational initiatives for Canadian youth.

About the Ontario Science Centre

The Ontario Science Centre has welcomed more than 51 million visitors since it opened in 1969, implementing an interactive approach adopted by science centres around the world. Today, the Science Centre is a leader in free-choice science learning and a key player in Ontario's innovation ecosystem, offering lifelong learning through hands-on, engaging experiences. It is a prime venue for public dialogue about science, technology and society. The Ontario Science Centre is an agency of the Government of Ontario funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. As a publicly assisted organization, the Science Centre relies on generous individuals, corporations and foundations who share a commitment to science and education for additional operating support. For more information about the Ontario Science Centre, please visit www.OntarioScienceCentre.ca

About The W. Garfield Weston Foundation

The W. Garfield Weston Foundation is a Canadian charitable trust, established by Garfield and Reta Weston and their nine children in 1958.  It was the belief of the founders that since it was the hard work of Canadian employees that made the Foundation possible, that its charitable funding should be directed to the benefit of Canadians.  The mandate of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation includes neuroscience, land conservation, education and scientific research in Canada's North.

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SOURCE Ontario Science Centre